1990 Memorial Cup

The 1990 Memorial Cup occurred May 5–13 at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. It was the 72nd annual Memorial Cup competition and determined the major junior ice hockey champion of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Participating teams were the Ontario Hockey League champion Oshawa Generals and runner-up Kitchener Rangers, as well as the winners of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League which were the Laval Titan and Kamloops Blazers. The original host team, the short-lived Dukes of Hamilton, were forced to drop out after only winning eleven games in the 1989–90 OHL season. Oshawa won their 4th Memorial Cup, defeating Kitchener in the final game.

The Kamloops Blazers finished the 1989–90 season with the best record in the Western Hockey League, finishing the season with a 56-16-0 record, earning 112 points, clinching the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy. The Blazers led the league with 484 goals, and finished the season with the second fewest goals allowed at 278. In the West Division semi-finals, Kamloops defeated the Spokane Chiefs fives games to one, followed by beating the Seattle Thunderbirds five games to one in the West Division finals, setting up a matchup against the Lethbridge Hurricanes for the President's Cup. The Blazers defeated the Hurricanes four games to one to secure a berth in the 1990 Memorial Cup.

The Blazers were led by Len Barrie, who scored a league high 85 goals and 185 points in 70 games to win the Bob Clarke Trophy. Barrie followed up his spectacular regular season with 14 goals and 37 points in the post-season to lead the Blazers to the WHL championship. Phil Huber finished fourth in league scoring as he scored 63 goals and 152 points in 72 games, while Mike Needham scored 59 goals and 125 points in 60 games. Seventeen year old defenseman Darryl Sydor led the defense with 29 goals and 95 points in 67 games as he was one of the top prospects heading into the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. Sixteen year old rookie Scott Niedermayer scored 14 goals and 69 points in 64 games in his first season of junior hockey. Corey Hirsch was the Blazers starting goaltender, as in 63 games, he earned a record of 48-13-0 with a 3.82 GAA and a save percentage of .876. Head coach Ken Hitchcock was awarded the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as WHL Coach of the Year.

The 1989-90 season was the third time in team history that the Blazers had won the President's Cup. The team had previously won the championship in 1984 and 1986. The Blazers did not win the Memorial Cup in their previous appearances, as in the 1984 Memorial Cup, the franchise, known at the time as the Kamloops Jr. Oilers, finished in third place, while in the 1986 Memorial Cup, the Blazers once again finished in third.

The Kitchener Rangers had a record of 38-21-7 in the 1989–90 season, earning 83 points and second place in the Emms Division. The high powered Rangers offense led the OHL with 358 goals, while the club allowed 259 goals, the sixth fewest in the league. In the post-season, the Rangers defeated the North Bay Centennials four games to one in the Emms Division quarter-finals. Kitchener earned a bye in the Emms Division semi-finals, advancing straight to the Emms Division finals, where they defeated the Niagara Falls Thunder four games to one. By advancing to the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals, the Rangers were guaranteed a berth in the1990 Memorial Cup as the Dukes of Hamilton, the host of the tournament, were forced to dropout of the tournament following a very poor on-ice product. The Rangers faced the Oshawa Generals for the OHL championship, however, the team lost in seven games.

Gilbert Dionne led the Rangers offense with 48 goals and 105 points in 64 games, finishing seventh in league scoring. Joey St. Aubin finished just behind Dionne in points, as he scored 36 goals and 104 points in 66 games. Jason Firth also managed to break the 100 point plateau, as he scored 36 goals and 100 points in 63 games. Shayne Stevenson, who scored 28 goals and 90 points in 56 games during the regular season, led Kitchener in post-season scoring, as he had 16 goals and 37 points in 17 games. Kitchener native Steven Rice had the second highest goal total on the club with 39, while earning 76 points in 58 games. Cory Keenan led the defense with 13 goals and 48 points in 66 games, while Jason York, acquired mid-season in a trade with the Windsor Spitfires, scored 11 goals and 36 points in only 25 games with Kitchener. Mike Torchia got the majority of playing time in goal, earning a 25-11-2 record with a 3.58 GAA and a .875 save percentage in 40 games.

The 1990 Memorial Cup was the fourth time in team history that the Rangers earned a berth. Their previous appearance was in the 1984 Memorial Cup, as Kitchener lost to the Ottawa 67's in the final game. The Rangers also lost in the final game in the 1981 Memorial Cup to the Cornwall Royals and won the Memorial Cup in the 1982 Memorial Cup against the Sherbrooke Castors.

The Laval Titan had a mediocre regular season during the 1989–90 season, as the team finished with a 37-30-3 record, earning 77 points and fifth place in the eleven team league. The Titan were the second highest scoring team in the QMJHL, scoring 332 goals, while their 274 goals against was the third fewest in the league. In the QMJHL quarter-finals, the Titan defeated Shawinigan Cataractes four games to two, advancing to the QMJHL semi-finals. In this round of the post-season, Laval defeated the Hull Olympiques four games to one, setting up a matchup against the first place Victoriaville Tigres for the President's Cup. The Titan stunned the heavily favoured Tigres with a four game sweep to win the championship for the second consecutive season and earn a berth in the 1990 Memorial Cup.